Just a general apology to all for the lack of new content here. Been overwhelmed a bit recently with work, and handling some of those tricky curveballs that life throws you. Training has suffered a bit but hope to get back into the swing of things again soon.

Enjoyed a day out yesterday at the UKDFBA Northern show, great to see so many excellent physiques, and a big congrats to my friend Chris Chapman for bagging 1st place in the Masters class.

Also nice to see many friendly faces at the show and catch up with everyone.

Another good day out at the UKDFBA Heart of England. On judging duty so had headache pills at the ready...

Big congrats to all who competed, especially our forum regulars such as Ben, James, Pete and Keith who did us all proud representing Natural Muscle! Also great to see Tony Barnes and Charlene Black from Udo's/Xercise4less up onstage, plus I'm sure there are others who frequent the forum who competed too. Also a special mention to my friend Elesa Zehndorfer who placed just outside the medals in a stacked bikini division but looked superb and very much enjoyed the experience.

Didn't get much time away from the table sadly, but was great catching up with some friendly faces including Simon Jurkiw from Bulk Powders, Matt Argall, Mark O, Mark H, Damian Lees, Scott G, Alan Mack, and Max from USN.

Had a couple of good workouts since... the shows are proving quite motivational for me, at a time when I've got a lot on my plate, so thanks Lee

Still crazy busy on the work front but looking forward to getting back to a bit of normality again soon and hitting the gym consistently hard again. See you all in 4 weeks at the UKDFBA UK & International!

Hi Jon, sorry didn't get a chance to say hello Sunday, appreciate you and the judges are always in high demand, hopefully we can have a catch up at the finals. You are looking big as ever! No chance of a return? I was just watching the layne norton video of you vs Jim Cordova the other day for motivation!

Great to see you Jon, you're judging duties are hugely appreciated and having people like yourself at the table leaves no doubt that the decisions are always spot on.P.S I hope that my digs about your journal weren't too insensitive.

Hi Jon, sorry didn't get a chance to say hello Sunday, appreciate you and the judges are always in high demand, hopefully we can have a catch up at the finals. You are looking big as ever! No chance of a return? I was just watching the layne norton video of you vs Jim Cordova the other day for motivation!

Thanks Pete, grab me at the finals we'll make time for a catch-up! Yes, I remember them filming that video of Jim and me, it was shot after the 2007 worlds and meant to serve as fuel for the 2008 'clash' but we never met onstage again as '07 was my last time at the Worlds. I wonder what Jim is doing now, not heard about any recent comps he's done?

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Nice to see you Jon, looking well as always. See you in 4 weeks, well a bit less now.

Cheers, Scott. Almost 3 weeks now. It's going to be a crazy day, no doubt we'll both be very busy but look forward to catching up again.

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Great to see you Jon, you're judging duties are hugely appreciated and having people like yourself at the table leaves no doubt that the decisions are always spot on.P.S I hope that my digs about your journal weren't too insensitive.

Hey Keith, that's really appreciated thank you. Also very grateful for your input to the forum - no digs picked up - it's all good here. Yeah the judging can be tough going and the new physique class is especially difficult, really needing plenty of scrutiny to pick apart the placings. But then all classes can pose their own 'apples and oranges' situations. I'm sure there'll be no let up at the final with plenty of close calls!

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Great to hear your motivated jon just 3.5 weeks till your comeback! Seriously, would be great to see you compete again one day!

Cheers Ben. I'm no stranger to a short prep time but 3.5 weeks might be stretching it a bit for a comeback this year - lol! A few months ago I had a good spell of training and clean eating etc - as reflected in the journal. The body responded well (legs, upper body, everything started to come back really nicely), so I'm happy all is still in good working order. But just too many things started stacking up on my plate. I'm sure I'll turn a corner soon though.

Life's been giving me lots to do and probably having my busiest year to date work-wise. Getting by on less sleep as a result which isn't great and has took it's toll a bit, but riding the waves and still getting to the gym.

Watched my daughter Olivia compete in gymastics last weekend and delighted she picked up 3 medals in her regional comp against some very talented girls. Gold on the Floor routine, Silver on the Vault, and Bronze on the Bars. Proud dad moment there.

As for my own progress, well currently hovering around 80kg, typically my weight does not fluctuate too much these days so I'm ok with that. Gym weights down slightly on last year, but plan to turn that around soon. Need to set some new goals. No injuries to report, so all good on that front. Was inspiring to see so many good physiques on show the other weekend at the UKDFBA USN Classic where I was judging. A long day although very enjoyable indeed. Looks to be a big year for natural bodybuilding again!

Training going ok, not really into a set pattern at the moment as life is just too busy with various projects going on, so grabbing sessions when I can. Managed 2 workouts today, with arms in the AM and back, chest and delts PM. Weight is down a bit to 78kg, have leaned out due to all the work I'm doing on the house at the moment renovating 2 rooms. Happy to sit at this weight for now though as at least I can run round a bit faster - lol.

Olivia had another gymnastics comp today, finished 1st on the bar and 2nd on the vault but missed out on the overall medals as she made a few mistakes on the beam, and her floor routine was not technical enough. Still landed 5th which is not too shabby for regional level, so very proud of her.

Will be judging at the UKDFBA Heart of England in a few weeks and then onto the UK finals, really looking forward to it. These will be amazing shows and hope to catch up with plenty of you guys there!